As is known, stud finders are used to locate a stud or other obstacle behind drywall or other surface finish that prevents visual determination of the location of the obstacle. The stud finder is often used to locate a hidden stud for the purpose of using the stud as a support or mounting point for various objects, for example, pictures, shelves, hanging plants, bicycle holders, etc.
Once a stud is found, a builder, homeowner or handyman may often need to locate a point of interest a certain distance from the stud. For example, the point of interest may be another stud or a point located a certain distance from the stud, such as a picture location or a height from a floor, a ceiling, etc. This locating action can often involve marking the wall with the stud location, putting the stud finder down and then using a tape measure to locate the point of interest. Unfortunately, this process involves numerous steps, is time consuming, and is prone to inaccuracy.
Stud finders having built-in tape measures are known. However, one such combined device limits the routing of the tape strip of the tape measure to one direction, that is, in line with the length of the stud finder, which is not useful in many applications. Additionally, the combined device orients the tape strip perpendicular to the wall or the surface being scanned, so that the scale markings on the tape strip can only be read from one side of the stud finder, which makes the tape measure hard to use. Similarly, a combination stud finder and tape measure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,489 includes a fixed-orientation tape measure mounted perpendicularly to the stud finder.